Proof Checking and Logic Programming

International audienceIn a world where trusting software systems is increasingly important, formal methods and formal proof can help provide trustable foundations. Proof checking can help to reduce the size of the trusted base since we do not need to trust an entire theorem prover if we can check the proofs they produce by a trusted (and smaller) checker. Many approaches to building proof checkers require embedding within them a full programming language. In most many modern proof checkers and theorem provers, that programming language is a functional programming language, often a variant of ML. In fact, parts of ML (e.g., strong typing , abstract datatypes, and higher-order programming) were designed to make ML into a trustworthy " metalanguage " for checking proofs. While there is considerable overlap in the foundations of logic programming and proof checking (both benefit from unification, backtracking search, efficient term structures, etc), the discipline of logic programming has, in fact, played a minor role in the history of proof checking. I will argue that logic programming can have a major role in the future of this important topic

CoLoR: a Coq library on well-founded rewrite relations and its application to the automated verification of termination certificates

Termination is an important property of programs; notably required for programs formulated in proof assistants. It is a very active subject of research in the Turing-complete formalism of term rewriting systems, where many methods and tools have been developed over the years to address this problem. Ensuring reliability of those tools is therefore an important issue. In this paper we present a library formalizing important results of the theory of well-founded (rewrite) relations in the proof assistant Coq. We also present its application to the automated verification of termination certificates, as produced by termination tools

Defining the meaning of TPTP formatted proofs

International audienceThe TPTP library is one of the leading problem libraries in the automated theorem proving community. Over time, support was added for problems beyond those in first-order clausal form. TPTP has also been augmented with support for various proof formats output by theorem provers. Such proofs can also be maintained in the TSTP proof library. In this paper we propose an extension of this framework to support the semantic specification of the inference rules used in proofs

Encoding of Predicate Subtyping with Proof Irrelevance in the ??-Calculus Modulo Theory

The ??-calculus modulo theory is a logical framework in which various logics and type systems can be encoded, thus helping the cross-verification and interoperability of proof systems based on those logics and type systems. In this paper, we show how to encode predicate subtyping and proof irrelevance, two important features of the PVS proof assistant. We prove that this encoding is correct and that encoded proofs can be mechanically checked by Dedukti, a type checker for the ??-calculus modulo theory using rewriting

The New Rewriting Engine of Dedukti

International audienceDedukti is a type-checker for the λΠ-calculus modulo rewriting, an extension of Edinburgh’s logicalframework LF where functions and type symbols can be defined by rewrite rules. It thereforecontains an engine for rewriting LF terms and types according to the rewrite rules given by the user.A key component of this engine is the matching algorithm to find which rules can be fired. In thispaper, we describe the class of rewrite rules supported by Dedukti and the new implementation ofthe matching algorithm. Dedukti supports non-linear rewrite rules on terms with binders usinghigher-order pattern-matching as in Combinatory Reduction Systems (CRS). The new matchingalgorithm extends the technique of decision trees introduced by Luc Maranget in the OCamlcompiler to this more general context

Representing Agda and coinduction in the λΠ-calculus modulo rewriting

International audienceCoinduction is a principle, or a proof technique, dual to induction and which allows to handle possibly infinite objects in a natural way, such as infinite lists, infinite trees, formal languages, non well-founded sets, etc. Because of its usefulness, it is increasingly being added to proof assistants, such as Coq, Isabelle, PVS and Agda. In order to be able to translate proofs by coinduction coming from multiple proof assistants it is thus important to first understand how to encode coinduction in Dedukti, a problem that had never been addressed before. During this internship, we studied the representation of Agda and coinduction in Dedukti. Among the techniques of implementing coinduction in proof assistants, Agda features two presentations: musical coinduction and copattern coinduction. Based on their internal syntax representation in Agda, we proposed an encoding of both presentations in Dedukti. We resumed the development of the Agda2Dedukti translator and extended it with the proposed encoding, allowing it to translate automatically proofs by coinduction into Dedukti

Un cadre de définition de logiques calculatoires d’ordre supérieur

The main aim of this thesis is to make formal proofs more universal by expressing them in a common logical framework. More specifically, we use the lambda-Pi-calculus modulo rewriting, a lambda calculus equipped with dependent types and term rewriting, as a language for defining logics and expressing proofs in those logics. By representing propositions as types and proofs as programs in this language, we design translations of various systems in a way that is efficient and that preserves their meaning. These translations can then be used for independent proof checking and proof interoperability. In this work, we focus on the translation of logics based on type theory that allow both computation and higher-order quantification as steps of reasoning.Pure type systems are a well-known example of such computational higher-order systems, and form the basis of many modern proof assistants. We design a translation of functional pure type systems to the lambda-Pi-calculus modulo rewriting based on previous work by Cousineau and Dowek. The translation preserves typing, and in particular it therefore also preserves computation. We show that the translation is adequate by proving that it is conservative with respect to the original systems.We also adapt the translation to support universe cumulativity, a feature that is present in modern systems such as intuitionistic type theory and the calculus of inductive constructions. We propose to use explicit coercions to handle the implicit subtyping that is present in cumulativity, bridging the gap between pure type systems and type theory with universes à la Tarski. We also show how to preserve the expressivity of the original systems by adding equations to guarantee that types have a unique term representation, thus maintaining the completeness of the translation.The results of this thesis have been applied in automated proof translation tools. We implemented programs that automatically translate the proofs of HOL, Coq, and Matita, to Dedukti, a type-checker for the lambda-Pi-calculus modulo rewriting. These proofs can then be re-checked and combined together to form new theories in Dedukti, which thus serves as an independent proof checker and a platform for proof interoperability. We tested our tools on a variety of libraries. Experimental results confirm that our translations are correct and that they are efficient compared to the state of the art.L'objectif de cette thèse est de rendre les preuves formelles plus universelles en les exprimant dans un cadre logique commun. Plus précisément nous utilisons le lambda-Pi-calcul modulo réécriture, un lambda calcul équipé de types dépendants et de réécriture, comme langage pour définir des logiques et exprimer des preuves dans ces logiques. En représentant les propositions comme des types et les preuves comme des programmes dans ce langage, nous concevons des traductions de différents systèmes qui sont efficaces et qui préservent leur sens. Ces traductions peuvent ensuite être utilisées pour la vérification indépendante de preuves et l'interopérabilité de preuves. Dans ce travail, nous nous intéressons à la traduction de logiques basées sur la théorie des types qui permettent à la fois le calcul et la quantification d'ordre supérieur comme étapes de raisonnement.Les systèmes de types purs sont un exemple notoire de tels systèmes calculatoires d'ordre supérieur, et forment la base de plusieurs assistants de preuve modernes. Nous concevons une traduction des systèmes de types purs en lambda-Pi calcul modulo réécriture basée sur les travaux de Cousineau et Dowek. La traduction préserve le typage et en particulier préserve donc aussi l'évaluation et le calcul. Nous montrons que la traduction est adéquate en prouvant qu'elle est conservative par rapport au système original.Nous adaptons également la traduction pour inclure la cumulativité d'univers, qui est une caractéristique présente dans les systèmes modernes comme la théorie des types intuitionniste et le calcul des constructions inductives. Nous proposons d'utiliser des coercitions explicites pour traiter le sous-typage implicite présent dans la cumulativité, réconciliant ainsi les systèmes de types purs et la théorie des types avec univers à la Tarski. Nous montrons comment préserver l'expressivité des systèmes d'origine en ajoutant des équations pour garantir que les types ont une représentation unique en tant que termes, conservant ainsi la complétude de la traduction.Les résultats de cette thèse ont été appliqués dans des outils de traduction automatique de preuve. Nous avons implémenté des programmes qui traduisent automatiquement les preuves de HOL, Coq, et Matita, en Dedukti, un vérificateur de types pour le lambda-Pi-calcul modulo réécriture. Ces preuves peuvent ensuite être revérifiées et combinées ensemble pour former de nouvelles théories dans Dedukti, qui joue ainsi le rôle de vérificateur de preuves indépendant et de plateforme pour l'interopérabilité de preuves. Nous avons testé ces outils sur plusieurs bibliothèques. Les résultats expérimentaux confirment que nos traductions sont correctes et qu'elles sont efficaces comparées à l'état des outils actuels

A Semantic Framework for Proof Evidence

International audienceTheorem provers produce evidence of proof in many different formats, such as proof scripts, natural deductions, resolution refutations, Herbrand expansions, and equational rewritings. In implemented provers, numerous variants of such formats are actually used: consider, for example, such variants of or restrictions to resolution refu-tations as binary resolution, hyper-resolution, ordered-resolution, paramodulation, etc. We propose the foundational proof certificates (FPC) framework for defining the semantics of a broad range of proof evidence. This framework allows both producers of proof certificates and the checkers of those certificates to have a clear formal definition of the semantics of a wide variety of proof evidence. Employing the FPC framework will allow one to separate a proof from its provenance and to allow anyone to construct their own proof checker for a given style of proof evidence. The foundation on which FPC relies is that of proof theory, particularly recent work into focused proof systems: such proof systems provide protocols by which a checker extracts information from the certificate (mediated by the so called clerks and experts) as well as performs various deterministic and non-deterministic computations. While we shall limit ourselves to first-order logic in this paper, we shall not limit ourselves in many other ways. The FPC framework is described for both classical and intuitionistic logics and for proof structures as diverse as resolution refutations, natural deduction, Frege proofs, and equality proofs

Automated Deduction – CADE 28

This open access book constitutes the proceeding of the 28th International Conference on Automated Deduction, CADE 28, held virtually in July 2021. The 29 full papers and 7 system descriptions presented together with 2 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 76 submissions. CADE is the major forum for the presentation of research in all aspects of automated deduction, including foundations, applications, implementations, and practical experience. The papers are organized in the following topics: Logical foundations; theory and principles; implementation and application; ATP and AI; and system descriptions

Certificates for Incremental Type Checking

The central topic of this thesis is the study of algorithms for type checking, both from the programming language and from the proof-theoretic point of view. A type checking algorithm takes a program or a proof, represented as a syntactical object, and checks its validity with respect to a specification or a statement. It is a central piece of compilers and proof assistants. We postulate that since type checkers are at the interface between proof theory and program theory, their study can let these two fields mutually enrich each other. We argue by two main instances: first, starting from the problem of proof reuse, we develop an incremental type checker; secondly, starting from a type checking program, we evidence a novel correspondence between natural deduction and the sequent calculus